Our View: You don't mess around with yard sales

There are some things you don't mess around with if you know what's good for you.

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southcoasttoday.com

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Posted Jun. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Posted Jun. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM

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There are some things you don't mess around with if you know what's good for you.

To borrow from an old Jim Croce song, "You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger ..."

And you don't mess around with people's yard sales!

In Dartmouth, no one was even trying to mess with people's yard sales, but that didn't prevent the rumblings of a mini-revolt at Town Meeting this week.

Presented with two new bylaws aimed at curbing sales of stolen goods and keeping businesses from putting up monstrous signs, Town Meeting members' main concern seemed to be the potential infringement on their God-given right to peddle junk on their front lawns.

A secondhand goods rule that requires dealers such as pawn shops to hold gold and precious metals for 30 days before melting the items down and requires the seller to be 18-plus and show photo identification was interpreted by some as a sneaky ploy by police to crack down on their yard sales. The bylaw, they noted, does not specifically exempt yard sales, but Police Chief Timothy Lee assured them: "The bylaw affects buying stuff, not selling stuff."

Others asked if it could affect church rummage sales, forcing town counsel to enter into a discussion on the rights of registered nonprofits.

"I think you're all over-thinking the interpretation of the bylaw," Town Counsel Anthony Savastano told the panicked Town Meeting members, some of whom had called for the measure to be shelved indefinitely.

Hours later, the sign bylaw — mandating businesses with signage within 100 feet of a roadway keep their signs to less than 32 square feet — came up and Assessor Robert Michaud asked if it would affect yard sale signs. There was an audible groan from the audience.

And the police chief assured them that the secondhand goods rule was aimed at fighting metal thefts that end up with thieves selling gold, then having the evidence destroyed the same day. "Before that kid's out the door, they're melting the gold," he said.

Relieved town officials saw residents approve both bylaws by overwhelming margins. But let this be a lesson to you: Don't try to mess around with their yard sales.